Charges against a revered former Hmong guerrilla leader accused of plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos have been dropped, according to US justice officials. A spokesman for the United States Attorney's office in Sacramento, northern California told AFP all charges against ageing warlord Vang Pao, 79, who was arrested in 2007 in Sacramento, had been dismissed. A statement said that while 12 other people will be prosecuted for attempting to bring down the Laotian government... Read Full Story
Charges against a revered former Hmong guerrilla leader accused of plotting to overthrow Laos' communist government have been dropped, according to US justice officials. A spokesman for the US Attorney's office in Sacramento, northern California told AFP all charges against ageing warlord Vang Pao, 79, who was arrested in 2007 in Sacramento, had been dismissed. Although 12 other people will be prosecuted for attempting to bring down the Laotian government, charges against the CIA-trained Pao... Read Full Story
Charges against a former Hmong guerrilla leader accused of plotting to overthrow the communist government of Laos while in exile in California have been dropped, justice officials said Friday. A spokesman for the United States Attorneys office in Sacramento told AFP that all charges against ageing warlord Vang Pao, 79, who was arrested in 2007 in Sacramento, had been dismissed. A statement said that while 11 other people will be prosecuted for attempting to bring down the Laotian government... Read Full Story
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called Sunday for closer business and cultural ties with Southeast Asia to create a common economic community that is a leader in green growth. Lee, who invited leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian nations to commemorate 20 years of relations between the Seoul and the bloc, hailed the expansion of their economic ties. Total trade has grown 11 times over the past two decades to $90.2 billion last year, he said, and is expected to increase to... Read Full Story
The communist authorities in Laos, one of Asia's poorest nations, have signed a decree to allow local non-governmental organisations for the first time, foreign aid agencies said on Monday. More than 100 local organisations of various types already exist in the country but are not centrally registered, said Luke Stephens, country director of the Irish-based NGO Concern Worldwide. The decree provides a clear legal framework for membership-based groups, in contrast to the existing situation... Read Full Story
Bangkok Post
Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat will pay a one-day visit to Laos tomorrow, part of a tradition of visiting neighbouring countries after taking office. The prime minister will meet his counterpart Bouasone Bouphavanh for bilateral talks and the two prime ministers will play golf to strengthen ties between the two nations.
Mr Somchai will also pay a courtesy call on President Choumaly Sayasone and jointly preside over the handover of an irrigational canal construction project... Read Full Story
Washington, D.C. (RushPRNews) March 1, 2008 -A coalition of Lao and Hmong organizations in Washington, D.C. have denounced the visit of Thai Premier Samak Sundaravej to Laos following his government’s brutal forced repatriation of Lao-Hmong refugees and asylum seekers in recent days back to Laos and the Lao military’s new offensive against unarmed Lao and [...] Read Full Story
Washington, D.C., (RUSHPRNEWS)05/24/ 2008 -Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak reportedly ordered Thai Third Army troops to use tear gas and pepper spray mace today to seek to force hundreds of Lao Hmong refugees onto military buses to repatriate them back to the communist regime in Laos that they fled. Read Full Story
Thailand, Laos Crisis: Samak Urged To Grant Amnesty to Hmong
WASHINGTON (Rushprnews)April 21, 2008 - Amnesty International, the Center for Public Policy Analysis and a coalition of Lao and Hmong human rights organizations urged Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak, and the government and military of Thailand, to immediately cease the forced and involuntary repatriation of Lao and [...] Read Full Story
Laos, Hmong: Press Freedom Crisis
Washington, D.C., (RushPR News)March 18, 2008 - The Center for Public Policy Analysis and a coalition of Lao and Hmong organizations in Washington, D.C. called on the Lao government to abide by international law and the repeated calls of the Paris, France-based press freedom organization Journalists Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres) [...] Read Full Story
